December
16, 2019
Greetings from
a trusted source,
At some point, someone will trust you. I don’t mean in the sense that they simply believe
your honesty, I mean they will trust you as a human being. This is so grown up. What is refreshing is that even at my
advanced age it still makes me smile when I’m given this gift.
It might be that someone trusts your ability. For whatever reason they are convinced that
you really know how to jump start a car, (even though you’re not sure about the
red/black puzzle) and let’s be honest, they have no choice, so they trust that
you won’t blow up their Kia. Anyway.
Or perhaps they trust your opinion. For whatever reason your friend from yoga
class asks you for a recipe idea for zucchini, and you just are so flattered to
be asked that you just blather the first thing that comes to mind. And somewhere someone ends up making zucchini
milkshakes with cardamom.
This might say to you that sometimes trust in you is
misplaced. It’s not. It’s just timing, because in the next moment
you are wiser about batteries and cardamom, and that potential is something to
be trusted too.
There is a place too where your parents trust you. Like when you are driving them somewhere and
they don’t even question if you know the shortest route or where to park. Even if you don’t notice it in the moment, you
feel more capable.
When you have kids, trust automatically comes with your Parent
License. (Some of you are looking at
your spouse and wondering if she thought to get the license, because you sure didn’t,
and I hate to break it to you; your kids are illegal aliens.) They believe in
your abilities, in your intentions, they trust you to care for them and believe
you are competent because you know that lefty-loosey righty-tighty bit of
wisdom.
People will trust you, to varying degrees, throughout your
life. Each time you notice, it builds
something in you. But the best, like the
dark chocolate version, the deluxe apex of trust, is when you discover that you
trust yourself.
It is not about being blithely confident or allowing our ego
to dominate every aspect of our thinking.
In fact, what I have learned is that trusting yourself really matters
most when you are least confident in your abilities, or perhaps when the road
ahead of you is unknown.
At the heart of trust is faith, hope, which creates optimism that
breeds a confidence, sometimes in spite of facts and proof and experience. Yes, you sense it takes courage, and you’re
right.
Maybe this time of year, in the middle of decorating trees
and cookies and small pets in some holly inspired theme, it’s not the best time
to gaze into your personal psyche and ask deep philosophical questions, which,
even if answered, do not contribute in any significant way to the GDP. Or solve the long list of things you have to
do before the in laws arrive and begin judging your holly inspired décor.
Maybe this time of year is exactly when you need to trust you,
facing all the stresses that pile up during the holidays. Likely,
you are most of the way there, most of the time. Perhaps today, in order to believe and trust
yourself, you simply need to be reminded of how amazing you are.
Think of a person you trust. Perhaps a friend, or someone you love. Someone who is not infallible, but who brings
gifts and talents and a willingness to try.
Think of what you believe about them. This strength you feel from them, this trust
you have in them, is strong, it’s important.
Now slip sideways a little and see that this person you love is you.
Trust what you bring each morning. What you read, the music you listened to, the
love you are capable of. Remember how
you laugh, what you can create, think of the moments that inspired you or brought
you to tears. Think of the mistakes that
forged the steel in you. These fibers
are woven in you, the warp and weft of your experience and your potential, and
if you haven’t noticed how beautiful it is, how incredible it is, let me remind
you. Trust in who you are, what you believe,
what you think, what you are capable of. Trust me on this.
My friend Dallas says: “Every person is a project of God.” He says that to help us remove judgment when
we meet other people, and to replace it with trust. I put it here today because I want to remind
you to give yourself that same grace.
Maybe this isn’t for you this morning, because you already
know it, you already trust what you woke up with. So maybe you know who it is for.
I have a rich life, filled with love and friendship and a
brilliant light that shines in every corner of my day. I am blessed with an astounding variety of
experiences, and the future holds even more.
I move through this world strengthened by all of this, along with the
trust others have in me, and the trust I create in myself.
Hope
this finds you placing it where it’s needed,
David
Copyright
© 2019 David Smith
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